Freezing bonds
by fleeting nascent
Summary: It was like destiny, that they found each other. And as if it were each other's ability, whenever they were with each other, they froze time... and their bond grew unbreakable.
1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE**

Kuchiki Rukia walked the front lawn of the Kuchiki manor. It was a nice, sunny day. The tgrass swayed gracefully with the somewhat cool breeze and the sun gave her an exception for it wasn't too hot, too.

Not that she ever gets hot. She _does _wield a sword of the ice element.

Today was the 40th anniversary of her coming here. That's why everyone in the manor was so busy decorating the place. Maids cleaning up and hanging decorations everywhere, but of course, Kuchiki Byakuya was nowhere to be found. Although he promised to come home before the celebration starts, she wondered why he wasn't there. He _was_ the one who planned it.

Her brother, no, her sister's husband, always did. For forty long years, he celebrated Rukia's coming in the manor, as if it was the reason he hasn't burned the place to the ground.

The first time she got there, there was also a celebration. Invited where the famous, the leaders of all the prestigious clans in Rokugnai, and also, of course, the Gotei 13. There were a lot of people, yes, but the one she wanted most to be there wasn't. Abarai Renji.

Renji, her childhood friend, never came to the celebration. Well, for one, he wasn't invited. Only the ones who have a standing in all of Soul Society were allowed to go in.

Rukia could still remember the day she had said to her Renji that she was being adopted. Of all people, she knew Renji would tell her to decline the adoption. But what shocked her is that he didn't. He just said he was glad for her, and quite jealous, for that matter. And that was it. She couldn't tell if it was all sarcasm, but she didn't bother to know. She walked out on him, and in the next forty years, they became almost strangers to each other.

Rukia hated him. She hated his guts. She thought that if he agreed to the adoption for _her_ own good, no. Renji knew completely that the only one that brought her happiness was being with him. Stupid Renji. Always thinking about her. She never asked for it, but he always did. Renji valued her too much. Too much for his own good. Just like Ichigo.

That idiot.

She smiled a small smile when she suddenly remembered that idiot friend of hers. Ichigo risked his life a lot of times before. And she was sure he'd do it a zillion times more. Not that she's complaining, she doesn't have the right to, for she knew that she'd do the same for him.

Ichigo was hotheaded, and yes, sometimes, he fails to think rationally. They always fight, bicker and exchange mean words. He's cranky and impatient and violent to bullies. But he was kind, to friends _and_ enemies. He shows sympathy to everyone, he understands their pasts and he teaches them to learn from their mistakes. And he has a special ability, the ability to make people believe in him, to not doubt on placing their bets on him. That was what she liked about him the most.

But she still hated the fact that Ichigo always feel that he needs to protect _everybody_. Including her. Rukia thinks that his "debt" to her was nothing but a stupid reason to save her from death, to protect her. It's like she wasn't _forced_ to save him. He was strong, and she knew it from the very first time she laid eyes on him. And she believed that he was the only one who can defeat that Hollow.

But she doesn't regret anything she did. From saving him to befriending him, none was to be felt sorry about. She just wants to know, why does everyone do the same?

Everyone wants to protect her. Renji, Byakuya, Orihime, Ishida, Chad, Hanatarou, Kiyone, Captain Ukitake and even those she doesn't now very well. What is with them? Unlike her case with Ichigo, she hasn't done anything remarkable for these people, and yet…

Don't they know that she's stronger than what she looks like? She mastered controlling her soul slayer ahead of almost everyone else in her batch from Shinigami Academy. And she's not even a seated officer! But everyone just… just likes to show their backs to her.

Had they ever thought about what she'd feel if they die? If they lose their life because of her weakness?

The very thought was… depressing.

A sudden sound of running footsteps broke her thoughts. She turned around when she heard her name being called. It was Renji.

"RUKIA!" He bellowed.

"Renji," Rukia rubbed her temples, agitated. "Not so loud,"

When he was in front of her, he scratched the back of his neck and muttered a soft 'sorry'.

"What do you want, baboon?" Rukia smirked at Renji's ears as they mercilessly become red.

He huffed and crossed his arms across his chest a few seconds later. "For your information, _Rukia,_" His voice dripped with sarcastic anger, he said, "That you can invite everyone you want to the event," When Rukia almost jumped from anticipation, he held up a hand, "And yes, even from people from the Living world-"

"REALLY?"

It was almost three months since he saw her friends from the Living world, it would be so great if they would come for a completely different reason from their last one.

"Yeah, yeah" Renji waved dismissively, "Go get them. Wait-" He grabbed her wrist with a firm grip. He said in a deadly serious tone, "I can come, right?"

Rukia looked at him as if he just told her he was gay, "Of course," Renji let go of her wrist and said, "Thank goodness, I was thinking you weren't going to invite me like last year's celebration, no, in every year's celebration." Rukia looked offended, but so did Renji. So he really wanted to go, she thought. Why didn't she think of inviting him? _She _was the cause for the celebration, surely they'd let him in if she asked. But why hadn't she? She didn't found the answer as Renji grinned cheekily. "And if I come, surely, there'll be lots and lots of food! Ah! I haven't tasted noble food since-"

_Smack!_

Rukia smacked him in the head. She bowed her head, hiding her flustered face; she said quietly, "You only think about food, don't you?"

"Pretty much, but…" He looked down at her, using his index finger to tilt her head up, "But I squeeze some of my thinking time for you. You're my best friend, Rukia, don't _ever_ think that I'd come to this party just for food. Of course, I'm coming because of you." Rukia's lips were a half-way to a smile when Renji interrupted again.

"But then again, that FOOD! And I'll meet that Kurosaki bastard! Ha! If he sees my improvement, he'll-"

"Renji," Rukia warned. He was about to splutter some apologies, but she said, "Thank you."

She bowed her excuse and walked out the Kuchiki manor, barely hearing Renji's soft reply of "No problem."

* * *

Tenth division captain, Hitsugaya Toshiro was just about to take his morning nap when a hell butterfly fluttered from his window. Matsumoto, who was sitting down on the couch drinking sake caught the black butterfly and received the message.

Hitsugaya stood up from the sofa and rubbed his sleepy eyes. "What does it say?"

Matsumoto took a moment before responding, no, squealing the answer, "OOOOOOOH! A party!"

"A what?"

"A party, sir! We got invited to a party happening tonight! And guess what, guess what!"

Hitsugaya brushed a hand through his silver hair, "What?"

"It's in the Kuchiki manor!"

The Kuchiki manor, he thought. "What's such a big deal?" He said, sitting on the couch again and raising his legs to rest them on the coffee table.

"WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL, sir?" Matsumoto looked offende- no, she looked scandalized.

"What?" Her captain asked, still dazed by his almost morning nap.

Matsumoto shook her head as if disappointed and said, "Sir, being invited there is an honor! The Kuvhiki clan, they're nobles, and they're celebrating the fortieth year of their heiress, Kuchiki Rukia-san, EVERYONE, and I mean everyone, sir, will be there!" She finished with her hands clasped together, looking up in the air dreamily.

"So what? I've been there for, like, a couple of times, but nothing really is special-"

"Don't even dare!" Matsumoto bellowed.

This happened yesterday.

Yesterday, he had yelled at his lieutenant for being over-enthusiastic about _everything _for the millionth time_. _She gave up in convincing that coming to the Kuchiki manor was a _privilege _after a few more scolding from her captain. But in turn, he too, agreed on coming to the stupid party. He was invited there a couple of times before, for the same reason, too.

All captains' attendance is a must. Or Kuchiki Byakuya will kick your sorry ass.

Not that he's _afraid_ of him, well; he just had to take his mind off work. He was always doing stupid paperwork, writing in parchment, and of course, yelling at his subordinates.

He's young, yeah, but that doesn't mean he doesn't get to scream at people. It's like this principle: I don't care how old you are, if you're not respecting me, I'm not respecting you!

But to be honest, he's just gets angry at people who go easy on him, like he's just a kid. Yes, he's a kid, but he's a Captain, for God's sake! Even if he's just about 133 centimeters tall, he's still a goddamned captain!

His face crumpled into a scowl as he emerged from his room in the tenth division's barracks. It was five in the afternoon and still, everyone's worked up because of that Kuchiki girl's party.

His subordinates were running around, screaming, "I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO WEAR!" and "WHAT WILL CAPTAIN BYAKUYA SAY?"

He snapped his eyes shut and rubbed his fingers on his temples. It's gonna be damn long day.

But his eyes suddenly opened when he sensed a familiar presence behind him. "Hinamori," he turned around and saw Hinamori Momo wearing a pink yukata with white sakura petals, three feet away from him. "Hey, Shiro-chan," She smiled at him.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be-?"

"Nope," She shook her head and took a step toward him. "Well, I was allowed to be out of the division 4 barracks because of Rukia-san's insistence that I come. I couldn't miss the party, now, can I?"

Hitsugaya groaned loudly and slumped his shoulders, his eyes intense, still on Hinamori. "Not you, too!"

"What? A party's great! Lots and lots of people! Come to think of it, aren't you supposed to be dressed up already? The party's starting at five-thirty."

"Don't you think I know that? Sheesh. I'm just gonna go looking like this." He pointed at his captain's uniform.

Hinamori, on the other hand, looked at his get up as if it were a disgusting rag.

"WHAT? You can't do that! What will-"

"What will Byakuya say, yeah, I got it." He sighed and waved her off. _I hate it when she does that._

"Go on ahead without me and take Matsumoto with you, I'll just go on and prepare and to finish this already, so I can finally have my long nap,"

With that, he left an amused Hinamori in a flash step.

* * *

It was fifteen minutes to five-thirty and almost everyone was already there.

Rukia got back from the Living world all excited and jumpy because it was the first celebration with everyone there. She'd invited Ichigo, of course, along with Orihime, Ishida, Chad and even the people from the Urahara shop. She also included the Ganju to her friends list. She wanted to take everyone else with her, but that was stupid. If she brought her other friends from the Living world, she'd just expose them to more trouble. At least, the people she invited were strong. They can handle themselves.

All of them agreed enthusiastically, well, except for Ishida, who was a quincy and was hesitant to go to a place with a lot of his most hated kind; shinigamis. Ichigo called him a coward and he agreed on coming, to prove that he is most definitely _not_ a coward.

She ran across the beautifully decorated lawn, smiling to herself, not once stopping to look at the view. She caught glimpses of the guests who waved at her; she smiled at them but continued to disappear in a blur to the manor.

Inside her room were three maids. They bowed respectfully at the sight of her and got ready to fix her up. She sat down on a stool by the mirror and muttered a soft acknowledgement of the maids, signaling them to start. And they did.

* * *

Hitsugaya arrived about ten minutes after five-thirty, wearing a white hakama and sandals that make him a teensy bit taller. He had combed his hair, but his efforts of taming his hair became useless when he decided to just flash step to the damned party. Hinamori would be disappointed if he were to be late.

He adjusted his soul slayer o his back and sighed.

Now, he just had a trouble on finding a good thing to wear, since he doesn't usually need to. He was a boy, but he took so long to dress! He felt like Matsumoto and it was a bad feeling. It's as if some insolent ice cube had just decided to rest on his stomach.

He sighed , clearly frustrated and made his way to his lieutenant, who was on the other side from he was, about fifty feet away. He stopped dead in his tracks; he'll have to walk toward her, in the middle of the wide yard. Prying eyes would criticize him and his sense of fashion. He looked at what he's wearing, it wasn't too bad. _Ugh. This. Was. Going. To. Be. A. Freaking. Long. Night._

As he strode, he caught the sight of the place. The few trees were decorated with purple unlit lanterns, and the lawn was occupied with blankets and the blankets were occupied with different people. He saw some of his subordinates down west, drinking from every sake bottle they could lay their hands on. He was surprised that Matsumoto wasn't in that crowd. She was sitting on a blanket, eating something. She was wearing a red kimono, exposing her rather HUGE breasts.

With every few steps, some people would talk to him, commenting on how he looked that night. Ukitake even said he was _cute._ CUTE!

The place grew darke yet, the purple lanterns remained unlit, only the faint moonlight serving as a source of light.

When he finally made it to his lieutenant, she greeted him, "Hello, captain!"

"Where's Hinamori?"

Matsumoto raised a delicate brow, "She's with Renji, they were supposed to fetch the Ryoka that were invited to the celebration," She smiled patting the space beside her, "Come, captain, sit down and relax."

He obeyed and took something that suspiciously looked like a watermelon from a tray that a maid was carrying. He tilted his head upwards, chewing loudly.

Matsumoto kept babbling about something, but not a word entered his mind. After eating at least five more of the watermelon pastries, he asked, "Why aren't you drinking sake with everyone else?"

Matsumoto hummed to herself, helping herself with the pastries. "Hmmm, well, I want to stay sober to see her come down."

"Her?" He repeated rather stupidly.

"Kuchiki Rukia, sir."

"Oh."

"This is the first time she was allowed to invite her own friends, and I'm waiting to see her face,"

"Why?" He hasn't got anything else better to say. So, the hell with it.

"Well," She gulped down a pastry whole, "Remember when we were invited here last year? I was barely sober when I saw her come down, but I was sure she looked pained. I hope to see the opposite of her pained expression."

_Huh. I never knew she was so interested with Kuchiki._

"Oh." _What a dumb response._

And just when he thought she dropped the subject, she started talking again. "Renji told me all about her."

The air grew heavy. As if it burdened the weight of the world. The crowd was still unsurprisingly _very_ noisy, but Matsumoto's sad voice drowned them down.

"She grew up all alone, left by her sister. They died simultaneously, that's why they were still together when they got here. But her sister felt that it was far better to leave her alone as a defenseless baby, as she feared that she wouldn't be able to raise her.

"Rukia grew up alone, and as nobody explained to her why she became hungry one day, she pretended that she wasn't. She slept on alleyways, wearing a tattered kimono that was the only thing she had of her sister. She met Renji and his friends, after helping them steal water," She laughed, a sound Hitsugaya was accustomed with, but her laugh had a certain hint in it.

He barely knew Kuchiki, but by the sound of it, she suffered worse than him.

Yeah, he was feared by their neighbors, but he had his grandmother. He had someone to explain why he was hungry, and his granny was there to tuck him into bed. But Kuchiki, she had neither.

Matsumoto was going to say something else, but he never found out what.

His name was being called from his right. He and Matsumoto turned their heads, spotting Renji with Hinamori, behind them, the Ryoka, that months before, left a trail of blood in Soul Society, the sole reason being: to save Kuchiki Rukia.

Renji , Hinamori, Orihime and Urahara greeted both Hitsugaya and Matsumoto with enthusiasm, the other people, looking awfully bored, only acknowledge the tenth division officers with curt nods.

Not that he complained.

A sound came from behind them. It was Kuchiki Byakuya, announcing his sister's arrival. People stood up applauded.

As if on cue, the lanterns lit up and floated away from the tree.

The moon was soon forgotten at the sight.

All of the lanterns soared to the center of the lawn, forming a circle. It twirled and twirled, accelerating with every cycle. The crowd stopped their applause, admiring the magnificent dance of the lanterns as they turn into a purple blur. Hinamori, Orihime and a little girl with Urahara let put soft _Ooohs_ and _Aaaahs _with the crowd, earning a snicker from Matsumoto and a smirk full of pride of his captain from Renji. But even Hitsugaya noticed that Renji, was amazed, too, though he also knew that Renji would shave his red hair off before admitting it.

The last celebrations here, there were great entrances of the Kuchiki heiress, but this had to be the most surprising for Hitsugaya.

The lanterns twirled upwards, and then swiveled downwards, dissolving on the earth, leaving traces of sparks around the place. Almost like fireflies, only violet ones.

The purple fireflies came together, forming a huge sphere in the middle of the lawn. Little by little, it grew bigger. Some near the sphere backed up.

And after a few moments of the sphere just floating there, two feet from the ground, it sprouted wings. Almost like of those of a butterfly. Even with the praises of the crowd, he heard Yachiru say, "Look, Ken-chan! It's a ball with wings! So beautiful!"

But then the air grew devastatingly cold, their breaths clouded. Several people gasped, some stood with a fighting stance. Histugaya readied himself, soul slayer in hand. Even Matsumoto and Hinamori unsheathed their swords. The air seems to freeze, but the Ryoka just stood there, infazed, well, except for Orihime, for she was amazed.

"Rukia-san is so cool!"

After hearing Orihime's words, Hitsugaya and the other people within the crowd noticed that the temperature suddenly changed from freezing to a comforting coolness. And from the sphere, a figure stepped down, the purple fireflies, now gathering to the wings, performed the illusion of the figure having purple wings.

The winged figure wore a white furisode with baby blue crystals drawn in it. To Hitsugaya, it almost looked like shards of ice. The figure's hair was tied into a loose bun on her head, a baby blue flower on top of it. Bangs were covering his/her eyes. He/she brushed it out of the way, revealing purple eyes.

It was Kuchiki Rukia.

She looked extremely flustered, her cheeks tainted pink. Her small hands folding on her lap, she bowed. "Welcome, I am Kuchiki Rukia, sister of Kuchiki Byakuya, I am glad to see you all here." She looked all around as the wings started to fade from her back. And when she spotted the Ryoka, she beamed at them.

"Let the celebration continue," Byakuya called from behind them.

* * *

***HEY! Thanks to those who reviewed, and I'm sorry but I can't mention you today. Maybe next chapter, kay?**

**Well, this is an entirely different story from the the first one I published. But I wish you'd like it. 3 I can't promise that I can update and update all the time, but I _will _try my best, so, no worries. =)))**

**I really tried to get Hitsugaya this time. I wish I did, everyone notices that he's a bit OOC. But now, well, for me, he's not. Some characters might be, though.**

**Read and Review, please!**

**MEPHARE**


	2. Of drunk officers and sane friends

**CHAPTER TWO**

**Of drunk officers and sane friends**

Tenth squad captain, Hitsugaya Toshiro woke up with a start. He sat up rather fast, giving a headache chance to penetrate his head. He held it tightly and looked at his surroundings. He was at his office, on his yellow sofa. His white hakama was ruined, spilled food and drinks on it. He didn't mind, though, clothes were never a big deal to him. On his desk sat his sword and almost two feet of paperwork. Hitsugaya sighed irritably as sunlight poured from the window by his right, blinding him temporarily. He had to finish that paperwork before noon so he can take a nap. He scratched his eyes and stood up. He was almost at his desk when he tripped on something. As he fell, his forehead bumped on the edge of the tale, earning him not only a morning headache, but also a bump in his now throbbing head.

He straightened himself, holding onto the table for support. And when he looked down to see the culprit that tripped him, he almost fainted because of anger.

"MATSUMOTO!" He bellowed, his ears almost letting out steam.

On the floor was his lieutenant, Matsumoto Rangiku, drunk and dreaming, Histugaya guessed. She was muttering something in her sleep, something about red fish. Histugaya tried again, "MATSUMOTO!" but she just stirred in her sleep and snored rather loudly.

Histugaya sighed and poked his lieutenant with his big toe. "Oi, you," Still no response.

He leaned against the table, taking in a rather big amount of oxygen. Once ready, he screamed, "MATSUMOTO! YOU IDIOT! WAKE THE HELL UP!"

At last she woke, sitting up. She looked around and when she felt a cold presence glaring at her, seeming to make her explode with its eyes. Matsumoto Rangiku wasn't stupid. She knew who that was.

She slowly looked up, her lips quivering, she said, "G-good u-uh… Cap-t-tain Hitsu-g-gaya," Her captain had his arms crossed above his chest, eyes glistening violently. She waited for the worst part.. three… two… one!

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING, YOU FOOL! WHAT DID YOU FEED ME LAST NIGHT, HUH?"

Acting innocent was not a choice; this _was_ Captain Hitsugaya, the ice dragon. "Uh, I didn't actually f-feed you anything, sir, I-I just,"

"Don't you dare act like you didn't drug me!"

"But I didn't-! You were the one drank it! I was only suggesting, not really expecting you to-"

"YOU'RE BLAMING ME?" Oops. Wrong choice of words.

"Uh, sir, W-well, I-" Matsumoto scratched the back of her head nervously.

"ENOUGH!" Hitsugaya was breathing heavily now, the memories of last night shook him. He shivered violently. How can he be so foolish?

Last night was a disaster.

* * *

_He was running, running for dear life. Everyone was after him; Matsumoto, a drunk Ukitake and even Hinamori! The reason was so idiotic and just… plain stupid. They wanted him to drink sake and Ukitake was chasing him, holding lots and lots of candy._

_Somehow, he felt his legs go limp and his body go warm. He didn't eat anything at the party but those watermelon pastries. But, why does he have the feeling that it was something he took that made him this way?_

_SAKE and CANDY! He didn't like those. For one, he doesn't want to be like his lieutenant. Drunk and stupid. He refused coldly, he glared at them, but why, WHY WERE THEY STILL FOLLOWING HIM? Normally, _normal_ people would've peed in their spot upon being glared by him. Well, he should've guessed, those weren't even normal people._

_Upon escaping, he'd been thrown food and drinks, making his hakama a mess. He shunpo-d out the place. HE DOESN'T WANT FREAKING SAKE. He knew that coming to that stupid party was a bad idea._

_He was now at the woods. How he got that far was beyond him. He stopped and listened for them. They were going the wrong way, he sensed it. They were going east. Hitsugaya sighed. _Damn._ He was about to go to his office and take a nap, but a presence behind him stopped the tenth squad captain._

"_What are you doing here, Captain Hitsugaya?" A panting Kuchiki Rukia stepped out of the shadows of the trees. Her hair was a mess; the loose bun was out of place, the baby blue flower hanging from it. Her clothes weren't saved, too. The once elegant furisode was now a tattered piece of cloth. It still covered most of her body parts, but its right sleeve was torn away, exposing her skinny arm._

_She bowed respectfully, "Hello, sir." Once she raised her head, her purple orbs widened. "Sir, what happened to your-?"_

"_Ugh. Don't ask. It's a long story. And… you?" Hitsugaya looked at her skeptically. She looked like she had been raped."Uh, funny story, you see…"_

_What she was gonna say, Hitsugaya never knew. Shouts of the Kuchiki's name were heard from behind her. An alarmed look plastered itself on the girl's features. "Uh, sir… may you excuse me for a second?" He nodded._

_She smiled at him and drew her sword from her left sleeve. "HAKUSEN!" Then, massive column of ice stood before her, stretching for almost fifty feet vertically, and fifty feet, too, horizontally… forming a formidable wall. It was impressive. The columns shone under the moonlight._

_She kept her sword again and turned to look at him. He raised an eyebrow. "What?"_

_The next things that happened were, he was sure, moments of his life that he WOULD NOT forget._

_At the next second, she was beside him. Kuchiki grabbed his wrist and said urgently, "We've gotta get out of here."_

"_Huh?" But before he could protest, she dragged him, running to their right. He pulled his arm, and she stopped. "What the hell is happening? And what was that barrier for? And why the hell are your clothes like… THAT?"_

"_Sir, we don't have time… I-"_

"_I have the right to know." He crossed his arms over his chest defiantly._

_Kuchiki looked around nervously, "Okay, but we've GOT TO move," Her voice was pleading._

"_Fine," He replied coldly, already walking._

_They walked silently for a while, Hitsugaya in front, and Kuchiki a few paces behind, looking around as if expecting a giant cockroach to jump out of nowhere and make her a special ingredient on its new cockroach recipe._

"_Here," She said, motioning on an oak tree. She tapped it noiselessly and began climbing. She was at the third highest branch when Hitsugaya decided to ask, "You expect me to climb that?"_

"_Well, yeah."_

"_Hell no." he stated plainly._

"_But sir, they're after me, and looking at you, I suppose someone's after you, too."_

_He contemplated… there was no way he could get any dirtier, right? Huffing, he mumbled, "Fine," and then he climbed, and positioned himself right below her branch._

"_Now, will you tell me what's happening?" He demanded. Kuchiki swallowed and nodded. She prodded for the flower on her head, and once on her grip, she pulled it off and threw it to the side. She sighed and leaned on the trunk._

"_You see… Ichigo, Renji and Orihime… they wanted me to… uh…"_

"_What?"_

"_No, uh… they dared me to… go to your office and uh…"_

"_What?"_

"_This is stupid… I shouldn't have," She was muttering endlessly now to herself._

"_Kuchiki!"_

"_Uh, Well… they wanted me to get a pair of your underwear and-"_

"_WHAT?" His underwear? What. The. Hell. He felt his face burning up. And no, he wasn't blushing, it was anger._

"_It was a dare, something living people do, and naturally, I refused," She waved her hands in front of her for emphasis. "I tried to tell Byakuya nii-sama, but he was too busy talking to everyone. They didn't let me NOT do it, threatening all sorts of things. I didn't know what had gotten into them. Since no one was available to help me, I escaped. It was hard, Orihime was good at smelling, but I had to do something… I just HAD to... So, I ripped off my sleeve and hung it somewhere…" She trailed off._

_He had to admit, Kuchiki was good. Even he wouldn't have thought of that. But the barrier was a dead giveaway. Using that much spirit power was like screaming your location. "I'm sorry, sir."_

"_Huh?"_

"_Well, I'm sorry for bothering you, and well, for the behavior of my friends." She sighed, "And I'm sorry for using you."_

"_Using me?"_

"_Right then, I used an ice-based barrier, and I'm sure, those chasing you would find you now."_

_Hitsugaya sat there petrified. If she was right, he'll be receiving candy and will be forced to drink sake. Matsumoto and Ukitake were understandable… but Hinamori! She was unacceptable! She knew that he'd rather hang himself from a flagpole than to accept those… those trashes._

"_But, don't worry…" She was now in front of him, kneeling, surveying the area. "I'll let you escape; I'll distract them, sir. And if my friends get here first, well… I'll just have to fake my death and disappear from the face of the world." She sounded serious. Was she more determined to fake her death than to get a pair of his underwear? This girl was stupid._

"_Wait, Kuchiki."_

"_Hm?"_

"_Don't you think you're over reacting? I mean, your friends aren't that… primitive, are they?" He had a hint of hysteric in his voice._

_His eyes grew heavier. Like he was sleepy. But he wasn't, not with all the adrenaline pumping through him._

"_Uh… But sir, they're about as _sane_ as your friends." She added hastily, "Was that enough description?"_

_Histugaya swallowed, "Uh, yeah. I suppose." Yeah, his friends were sane._

_The forest was quiet. All that's heard was the swishing of leaves against leaves. The moon shone overhead, giving them enough light so they can see, and enough too, so they wouldn't look like they were under a spotlight._

"_Well?" Kuchiki said, facing him, "Go!"_

"_No,"_

"_Why, they'll be here any second now, and if they find you-"_

"_No," Was this girl stupid? Wait. He already confirmed that a while ago. Those chasing him were two lieutenants and a drunken captain. It would be a miracle if she were to hold them off. After all, she couldn't "hold off" her own friends._

"_It's stupid to run away, if they find me, I'm going to have a word with them… and with your friends, too."_

_Instead of looking worried, an evil smirk appeared on her moonlit face. This surprised him. But then again, he couldn't blame her. He'd rip her head off he found out that she'd been snooping in her office, looking for his underwear._

_Just then, deafening roars of their names were heard. "RUKIAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!" and "CAAAAAAAAAAAAAPTAAAAAAAAAIN HITSUGAAYAAAAAAAAAAA!"_

_They exchanged tired, but excited looks. "Ready?" Kuchiki asked._

"_Yeah, first, we're gonna fend them off, if they still continue pestering us, we tie them up and leave them there." He pointed at a hollow tree. It was gigantic. Good. They can fit eight people there._

"_Yes, sir."_

_Hitsugaya can't believe this was happening. What ruckus those people caused! Now, he was forced to cooperate with this lowly thing! He groaned. This was stupid. Everyone's stupid._

_And before he could blink, eight people were in front of them, four of them holding sake bottle each. Rukia threw him a questioning look, which he just shrugged off. He gripped Hyorinmaru harder, standing back to back with the Kuchiki girl._

"_Okay guys, bring t on!" She chanted._

_He was a captain, and Kuchiki was pretty strong, too. But there were too many insane people gathering to make them miserable. All of them jumped at the two of them at the same time, and the next thing he knew, he was bound with ropes, behind him was Kuchiki, struggling out of the binds for dear life. Then, Kurosaki carried the both of them with the help of Renji. All of them were muttering something about him and Kuchiki not knowing how to have fun. His sword being dragged by Ukitake behind them. He shouted and shouted and shouted. But they didn't set them free. He threatened them to eternity under his wrath, but none succumbed to his demands. Kuchiki, too, was furious. She was fuming behind him, cursing and kicking._

_He pleaded at Hinamori, but she kept talking with Matsumoto, completely ignoring him._

_Damn. Damn. Damn._

_Kurosaki set them down .When they made it back to the party, everyone stared at him and Kuchiki... For one, they were bound with ropes, one more example? Their clothes were tattered and dirty. The both of them almost looked like they did something so… ugh. He couldn't even think about it._

_They were freaking lucky that Kuchiki Byakuya was not in sight._

_Some laughed and pointed at him. Soon, everyone joined in the fun of laughing at him. His cheeks were burning from utter humiliation and unmistakable anger. He was shaking. Then the area of the party became cold. The temperature devastatingly dropped making their breaths clouded._

_Mist was forming everywhere._

_He stood up, bringing Kuchiki up with him. His fists clenched into tight fists, blood oozing from where his fingers dug._

"_Captain Hitsugaya?" At first he thought it was Hinamori, because of the gentle soothing tone of the voice. But Hinamori doesn't call him 'captain'. He looked over at his shoulder, it was Kuchiki._

_She said, "Captain, are you okay?" Her voice was still soft, though her whole body was shaking from the cold. "You're burning up."_

"_Huh?"_

"_You're burning up." Somehow, the whole place seemed to turn into a blank white area the moment Kuchiki's eyes bore into his._

_Kuchiki grabbed a jagged stone from the ground and used it to cut the rope. She held out a hand and touched his forehead lightly. "Sir, I think you have a fever."_

_

* * *

_

And that was it.

He passed out. And right now, he was screaming at his lieutenant. "MATSUMOTO! EXPLAIN!"

Matsumoto Rangiku shivered under her captain's piercing glare. He was so scary. "Uh…"

"UH? That's all you can say? God, Matsumoto! You drugged me, didn't you? Even before you wanted me to drink sake, you put something in my drink, didn't you? ANSWER ME!" He was breathing heavily now. Usually, he'd be tired of screaming at this rate. But there he was, still standing.

"Sir, I was just trying to-"

"Trying to what, huh, Matsumoto? Humiliate me? Is that what you were trying to do? Well, congratulations! Do you know what that did to my reputation? You said it was safe! The drink you gave me in that wine glass! But I knew there was something wrong 'cause I smelled something off with my drink. Like it was different from what you're drinking!"

"Sir, you see…"

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, MATSUMOTO?"

A knock on the door stopped him from taking the daylights out of his lieutenant. Matsumoto sighed a relieved sigh, clearly glad that she's off the hook… for now. He snapped his eyes closed and muttered a "come in".

The small form of Kuchiki Rukia entered. In her arms were an unfamiliar box and on top of it was a stack of papers. Hitsugaya and Matsumoto groaned in unison. _More work?_

"Good afternoon, sir-AH!" Her eyes widened at the sight of Matsumoto sprawled on the floor, her clothes barely covering _anything._ Kuchiki was so shocked; she dropped everything her arms were barely holding. She squeaked at the tenth squad captain's groan of disapproval.

She bowed lowly, saying, "I-I'm so-so-so SORRY!"

First, his glare of distaste was on Matsumoto, who was laughing her ass off, and then on Rukia, and then it was on the pile of papers on the floor. Then, on the box. He picked it up. Now that he had a closer look, the box was a rectangular and it had big, circular letters, words on it saying: "FRUIT FLAVORED JUICE!" and "TRY IT AND YOUR LIFE WILL CHANGE!" Hitsugaya scowled at the neon colors of the letters.

And in that moment, all his anger turned into pure confusion. "W-What's this, Kuchiki?"

"I-uh… it's juice boxes, sir," He could see her looking up at him through her lashes. He sighed, masking his agitation, "I know what it is, _Kuchiki_. I mean, what's this doing here?"

"Oh, well…" She straightened herself up, looking at the box; she made her voice clear over Matsumoto's giggles. "Ichigo said that sick people in the living world drink those when they're… ah… sick, sir."

"The point?" His voice was all gruff. Kuchiki jumped, barely keeping her composure.

"Oh, sir, last night, you had a fever, and… I thought this…" She trailed off. Matsumoto stopped laughing all of a sudden. "You went to the living world… to get me this?"

Kuchiki's face turned beet red, she stepped forward and made a sudden move to grab the box from the tenth squad captain's hands, but he was quick, too. He placed it behind him. "Answer me."

She bowed and stepped back to her place a while ago, "Yes," And before he could speak, she held her hands in front of her, waving them as if surrendering, "I-if you don't like them… I could take them back and-"

"No, no… it's fine." He studied the box more, "These don't have _drugs_, do they?" He threw a glare dagger at his lieutenant's direction.

"Huh? Oh, no, sir. No, they don't… only goodness that makes you feel better." Kuchiki smiled. And Matsumoto, who although was under an intense glare, burst out laughing. "W-what?" She managed to say. The little Kuchiki yelped.

"It…" Now she was all embarrassed again. "Ichigo… he… when he's sister was sick, he made her drink those, saying… those words. I'm sorry if- "

"Don't mind Matsumoto. She's just hung over." Histugaya cut her off. "Was there anything else?"

"The papers, sir, since Captain Ukitake is, uh… unavailable right now, the head captain wanted you to do this. They are due tomorrow afternoon, sir."

Two groans were heard. Soprano and bass. "B-but, Rukia-chan, can't it wait?" Matsumoto pouted, crawling to the little Kuchiki's direction. (Making her step back a few paces)

Kuchiki stumbled back, almost hitting the oak door behind her. "U-uh, Lieutenant Matsumoto, well, no…"

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?" Screeching, Matsumoto was practically groveling towards Kuchiki now. If it weren't for Hitsugaya stepping on her scarf she would've eaten the girl. Or worse… hugged her. "WE CAN'T DO THAT!"

"B-but ma'am-"

But before Matsumoto can protest even more, Histugaya hollered, "SHUT THE HELL UP, MATSUMOTO! IT'S SO EARLY IN THE MORNING!"

Two girls looked at him. No one dared to burst his bubble.

_Tick, tock, tick, tock._

No one spoke, Kuchiki and Matsumoto was sweating real hard. Finally, Matsumoto said, "U-uh, sir…"

"WHAT?"

His lieutenant yelped and swallowed a lump in her throat… "It's already three in the afternoon…"

"WHAT?"

* * *

Rukia ran to the Kuchiki manor. She most certainly did not want to experience the wrath of the tenth squad captain. She had too much in her hands.

"_What do you mean it's three in the afternoon?" bellowed Hitsugaya Toshiro._

"_Sir… it's t-true. Look at the clock… t-there…" And he did, grudgingly, of course._

_And when he saw those two hands signaling three, he nearly spontaneously combusted from rage… _

"_H-How? T-the sun! It was… what?"_

_The captain looked anxiously at the two women in front of him, muttering, "How?" and "D'you mean that I only have about twenty-one hours in finishing… finishing… this?"_

_

* * *

_

And before she froze from the cold aura Histugaya was emitting, she mumbled her farewells rapidly and shunpo-d out of the tenth division's barracks.

Rukia didn't expect him to be _that _angry. So what if he woke up three in the afternoon? Ichigo wakes up later than that in weekends… even Renji. She sighed and stopped just a few blocks from the manor. Should she have helped them? After all, she was the one who made it worse. But she had a lot of things to do. Before she could contemplate more, an explosion echoed from behind her.

She ran to the sound. No screams, no moans of agony; just that one explosion. But the weird thing was not that no one was screaming in misery, but the fact that no one else was coming to see what was happening. Surely it wasn't _that _serious right? Come on, Soul Society lets out explosions all the time. Right? Maybe is she went to it, there'll be a Hollow or a… no, she thought. Hollows are stupid, yeah, but they weren't brain dead (if they have brains) to just step into enemy territory. That's suicide.

The sound came from a distance of about four kilometers or even more. Rukia didn't know how the sound traveled that fast. She ran and ran and shunpo-d. And when she got there, (in a part of the forest that was not covered with trees), she remembered being there… last…

"RukiRuki!" a cheerful voice called from in front of her. And what's in front of her… was…

"Look at this wall of ice, RukiRuki!" Yachiru exclaimed, pointing to a barrier of ice that was standing… wait, she made that! Last night!

"Lieutenant Yachiru… what are you-?" She couldn't believe it. It was there. The ice barrier. She thought, when she was making it, that it would only stand for a couple of hours… but… there it was, strong and glittering under the late sun.

It made this effect like those glaciers Yuzu was always talking about… the ones in the North Pole. She says that if the sun shines upon them, different colors burst out of them, like they were huge prisms, but better, since they were made by God.

And it _did_ glitter. It let light pass through it, and as it emerges to the other side of the barrier, it becomes a majestic array of colors.

"Pretty, right?" Yachiru mumbled dreamily, standing beside the awestruck Rukia.

"Yeah," She managed.

"Too bad Ken-chan wants it down… it's so pretty." Yachiru muttered grudgingly.

"H-huh? Wants it dow-? What do you mean?"

"The pretty ice thingy reflects light and throws the pretty lights to our office… making Ken-chan all mad…" She pouted. _Oh, so that's why there was an explosion._

"You were trying to knock it down, weren't you, Lieutenant Yachiru?"

"Uh-huh… but it's so haaaaard! It won't break and-"

"How about I help you, ma'am?"

"You'd do that… uh… what did I call you again?" Yachiru tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"Ruki… uh… RukiRuki, ma'am… but you can call me Rukia…"

"Okay then, Rukitsa! Let's get started!"

Rukia giggled and unsheathed Shirayuki… surely, breaking this wonderful prism was worth the time, right?

* * *

*SORRY it took so devastatingly long. My life got in the way. Well, I hope you enjoy... Oh, and don't forget to click the button just below this A/N and reveal to me what you thought about this chappie.


	3. Hitsugaya receives a mission

**CHAPTER TWO**

**Hitsugaya receives a mission and not a sinister teddy bear**

* * *

It was a great morning. He was alone in the office, the sun pouring enough light in the room and a gentle breeze sweeping it after a few seconds. He enjoyed this Matsumoto-free day. She was drunk, so she's stuck in her room, all hung-over-y (if that makes sense). Ah, the solitude, he thought with a contented sigh.

Hitsugaya pinched the bridge of his nose, agitated. He was thinking too much. A glance at the table in front of him and the two dominant things there made him smirk.

First one, the stack of reports of his division; it was almost done. Only about three folders left. Give him ten or twenty minutes and it's done.

Second, the juice boxes. A small rectangular box sat just beside the reports in its neon colored glory. On the side, it wrote, FRUIT FLAVORED JUICE. And indeed, it was. His personal favorite was watermelon, of course, but the box only had two juice boxes of the said flavor. And just a teensy bit, he felt disappointed. He tried the others, but no one can replace his watermelon. And now, the box had only two juice boxes in them.

It's been three days since Kuchiki Rukia gave juice boxes to him. And in those three days, he hasn't seen her. Maybe she was embarrassed or something, he thought. But there was no reason to be embarrassed, right? It's not like giving juice boxes was a crime.

At first, he absolutely had no idea how to drink the thing; then, he noticed a thin tube that was about, what, three inches long? And apparently it was used to transport the liquid from the box to his mouth. He spent glorious three hours just finding it out.

He was about to get one when someone knocked on the door. He quickly retreated his hand and placed it on his lap as he muttered, "Come in,"

"Hello, Shiro-chan!" Hinamori entered and walked to his table, closing the sliding door behind her quietly.

"It's Hitsugaya-kun, Hinamori, how many times-"

"What's this?" Hinamori asked, the neon colored box in her hands, "Oh, it's so cute! What's a fruit flavored juice?" She said, her hands shaking the box. Hitsugaya snatched it from her and shoved it inside his desk drawer. "Never mind that, what're you doing here?"

"Oh, I'm here to check up on you! You fainted in Kuchiki-san's party, right?"

Somehow, he found her statement quite the insult. The _damned_ incident happened four days ago, and she comes now? She didn't check up on him yesterday, or the day before that. And surprisingly, it was Kuchiki, the last person in mind who would be worried about him, was the one who first came with a funny colored box in hand, saying it was for him to get better.

Hinamori snapped her fingers in front of his face, forcing him out of his reverie. "Shiro-chan, you okay?"

"Huh?" Was his intellectual response.

"You were spacing out for a while there, you sure everything's okay?" Hinamori asked casually, like it was _almost _scripted.

Wait up, he didn't even say anything about anything being okay, why was she… _She's worried,_ Hyorinmaru said softly. And it almost made him smile. The thought of Hinamori Momo, who's still lovesick of Aizen worried about him felt like an award. He had worked so hard to protect her, and now, he thought, she finally acknowledges his efforts by worrying about him.

They talked for a while, reminiscing the past when they were still in Rokugnai. The first time he ate a watermelon and the first time he met Hinamori. The day was going great; he finished his paperwork while Hinamori chattered away on the sofa with him listening. But of course, someone had to ruin it.

* * *

"Good morning sir," An awfully familiar voice said from behind the door a few minutes later, "It's me, Kuchiki Rukia from the thirteenth division, bearing a report from Captain Ukitake,"

And for the slightest moment, he didn't want to mutter the words, "Come in," Maybe because he felt angered because he seldom have time to be alone with his friend.

But before he could reject, Hinamori stood up and called, "Come right in, Kuchiki-san!"

Kuchiki emerged from the sliding door. She bowed and muttered her formal greetings. In her hand was… was that a stuffed bear? It had fluffy ears and huge, round and black sinister orbs that seem to say, "Imma kill you!"

Before she could talk, Hitsugaya snapped, "If you're here to give that… that horrendous thing to me, Kuchiki, you may leave,"

For a moment, something flashed across Kuchiki's eyes. She clutched the teddy bear to her chest tightly. Her features hardened and Hitsugaya knew she was biting back a retort. He had heard her exchange of words with Kurosaki Ichigo and those arguments were far from _friendly._

"But Shiro-chan, she hasn't even started talking yet," Hinamori whined, "And why did you assume the bear was for you?"

"Well, that-"

"Foy your information, _sir,_" Kuchiki said, her eyes flashing dangerously, and her voice dripping with venom, "_This horrendous thing_ isn't for you, it's for Lieutenant Yachiru. Captain Ukitake realized long ago that the toys and sweets he gives to you are being wasted. I'm here bearing a report for him, though, as _I said._ So please, _sir,_ don't assume I am here to give you presents. I do not have the luxury or the endeavor to even think about that. I am a very busy person,_"_

"Y-You-"

Hitsugaya was speechless. No one dared to talk to him like that (With the great exception of Hinamori and Matsumoto, maybe,). He was infuriated, yeah, but he got to admit, this Kuchiki girl has got the nerve to even raise her voice with him. And what irritated him further was the way she stood; her stance was just like Byakuya's.

The bastard was rubbing on her too much.

And that evil bear was certainly not made for kids! Even if it's that brat, Yachiru! It looked like it was the type of doll that would wake up in the night and strangle people.

"See, Shiro-chan, she wasn't gonna give the bear to you! Now you've got her all flustered." Hinamori scolded and then she turned to Kuchiki, "Please excuse Shiro-chan," Her voice apologetic, "I think he's been eating something… Uh, something called fruit flavored juice… I think that's the reason he's really grumpy today."

And for a second there, Histugaya saw hurt sprung itself into Kuchiki's features. But she's good at wiping her face clean of emotions when she wants to, because as soon as he saw it; it was gone.

"Oh, I see," He heard her say under her breath. And for a small moment, he felt guilty.

"What do you want to talk to me about?" He breathed.

"If you will," Kuchiki stepped forward, a small brown envelope she produced from her sleeve now in hand. "This is a request from Captain Ukitake, he said to me that you are the only one who's supposed to know about this,"

He stood from his chair, stepped forward to Kuchiki and took the small envelope. "You heard her, Hinamori." He said almost grudgingly.

"It's okay," Hinamori said almost too happily, like she was almost relieved to get out of his office. "I was going anyway,"

With her goodbyes, Hinamori left the tenth division barracks, her warm presence lingering in his office.

And then a thought produced itself in his head. _What if Hinamori just came here just to kill time?_

No, he thought, Hinamori was not like that. She cares about him, right? That's what childhood friends do, they look out for each other. _But why didn't she come earlier?_

"Sir? The letter," Kuchiki said her tone blunt.

"Yes, the letter."

He walked over to the sofa, sat down and propped his feet on the table. "Sit down," he ordered. And Kuchiki did as she was told. She sat across from him, her hands neatly folded on her lap, the teddy bear sitting beside her.

In the letter was these words in clean writing,

_Captain Hitsugaya,_

_I wish to inform you that some of my subordinates' Zanpakuto are missing and I am sure that Kurotsuchi had something to do with this. He asked not too long ago that if he could experiment on my subordinates. Naturally, I said no. So that's why I think this is his way of saying that he didn't like my answer._

_And without their Zanpakuto, it's hard for my subordinates to take orders, they're getting depressed._

_I ask of you to help me investigate this, Captain, before it becomes worst. I am ill; therefore, I cannot do this myself. And surely, Kyoraku will be too drunk to even read this letter, and I don't want the head captain thinking I was fighting with another captain. And I couldn't possibly send my other subordinates, for they are Kurotsuchi's targets. You're my only hope._

_Please take my underling, Kuchiki Rukia with you in this mission, I have briefed her with the information I have gathered and her abilities will be more than enough for you._

_Thank you and I'm counting on you._

_ Ukitake Joshiro of the thirteenth division_

When he was done reading the letter, Hitsugaya sighed. "Oh well, so much for naps. Kuchiki, what other information do you have?"

"Yes, sir. First, the only Zanpakutos that were taken were fire types… and those of great offense ability."

"And how many?"

"Ten, sir."

"I see, when do we-?"

"Sir, Captain Kurotsuchi leaves his workplace only once a day; three in the afternoon. He leaves for his training, we assumed. And he only comes back after three hours."

"Then we have a lot of time," He said, as he placed the envelope on the table and eased back on the sofa.

"No, sir, we don't," Kuchiki took a piece of paper from under her sleeve and she spread it out on the table. It was a blue print of the twelfth division's barracks. He put his feet back on the floor and leaned onto the map.

"Here," Kuchiki pointed at a circled part on the right side of the blue print. "…is where we'll enter. It's a tunnel underground leading to Lieutenant Nemu's room. We dug this before… when, uh…"

Kuchiki blushed. "When?" He asked just to humiliate her.

She swallowed. "When Lieutenant Matsumoto wanted to know what kinds of things Lieutenant Nemu has in her room…"

"And what's there?" He insisted.

"Then," Kuchiki cleared her voice, "From her room, we exit and go here," She pointed at a circular room. "That's where most of the experiments are being done. Getting there is the challenge, every corner there's a guard, but even though Lieutenant Nemu would be there, it'd be easy to take her down,"

Hitsugaya lifted his head and raised an eyebrow, "Why, Kuchiki? Are you this arrogant that you think you can defeat a lieutenant?"

Kuchiki was unfazed. Her head still down, eyes focused on the blue print, "It's not that, sir. It's just that Lieutenant Nemu always leaves her Zanpakuto on a shelf in her room. She'll be defenseless."

"I see, and when we get there, what do you assume we do, after defeating Kurotsuchi's daughter that is?"

"We look for the Zanpakutos… That's the tricky part," Kuchiki raised her head and looked at him in the eyes, "We can't just feel their reiatsu, it's sealed. So, we find them by hand,"

He nodded. "And if the Zanpakutos aren't there?"

She snapped her head up, her mouth agape, "I… I didn't think about that,"

What…?

"What do you mean you haven't thought about that? And here I thought you've thought of everything! Oh God, you're worst than Matsumoto!" He felt humiliated, Hitsugaya. He thought that he just wasted his time on formulating a plan that may not even work!

"What do we say after barging in and _almost_ annihilating half of Kurotsuchi's men?"

"Well," She tapped her chin thoughtfully, "We say we were never there,"

"What?" Hitsugaya's brows drifted upwards. Yup, Byakuya and Kurosaki Ichigo are rubbing oo much on her. "Are you sure… they'll buy that?"

"No, not really." She said, folding the blue print and shoving it under her sleeve. "I'll think of a plan when we get there and _don't_ find the swords, no use devising an excuse if we aren't sure we'll need it, right, sir?"

Hitsugaya crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes. Well, she has a point, but still…

"It'll be fine, sir. If not, we do Plan B,"

He raised a delicate brow, "And what's that?"

"We leave our Zanpakuto there and say it was stolen, simple as that, then we would have a reason to come there,"

His eyes snapped open, "But we'll use our swords to attack-"

"No, we use our fists; we can't hurt fellow shinigami with our swords,"

Hitsugaya mentally faced-palmed himself, not only Kurosaki Ichigo, but Ukitake's been with her for too long. Sometimes, he thought how much sanity Kuchiki has left after being with those, now look at her. Rash and at the same time, prepared. This mission was gonna be a long one, he thought, pinching the bridge of his nose.

He sighed through his nostrils and uncrossed his arms. "Are you ready now?"

"Huh?" Kuchiki cocked her head to the side. He mimicked, just to mock her.

"What do you mean, 'Huh'? It's almost three," He motioned to the clock, "We better get this done immediately,"

"I… uh, yeah, sure. I'm ready now, but-"

"But what?" It came out as a growl than a question.

"I need to give this to Lieutenant Yachiru because-"

"Leave it there," He said; his voice gruff and indifferent. "She won't miss it,"

"Oh, okay." Kuchiki stood up gingerly. "So, we're going… now?"

"No, Kuchiki, we're going tomorrow," He mumbled to himself.

"But you said-"

He rolled his teal eyes at her, "It's called _sarcasm_, Kuchiki, you should use it sometimes,"

And with that, he walked past her and he swore he heard her curse under her breath… and he smirked.

"Coming, Kuchiki?" He asked as he held the sliding door open for her.

"Y-Yes, sir," And then she scrambled out the door and followed the captain to the twelfth division barracks.

* * *

*Let's pretend that the previous chapter said **CHAPTER ONE **and not **CHAPTER TWO**, 'kay?

LOL. I'm sorry it took too long. And it's too short. I was sulking since I thought the storyline sucked. But this site was not made only for good stories, this site was developed so people like us can hone our writing skills. And if the first story totally sucked, then the second will probably suck less, right?

So yeah, they're gonna enter the twelfth division barracks. I don't know what Nemu's sword is like, so I said she hides it in a shelf in her room.

Oh, d'you think anyone's a bit OOC? I think Rukia is, though.

One other question, is it just me, or all of us is like, "OMG, everyone's been murdered and I'm next!" When we hear _thumps_ when we're in the shower?

Tell me what you think, guise. :)


	4. Infiltrating

**A/N**

A BIG THANK YOU TO:

**Yuzy, Denidene, SnowCrystals, ForeverBlue90, Cifayn, MidnightSky18 and indigocitrus **for reviewing!

And **Hyourinmaru165 **for adding this story to her favorites! :)

*HEY! I'm sorry it took so long! I had so many things in my hands and stuff. But here it is now!

If you like Naruto and ShikaSaku fics, you should read some of mine! LOL. Now I'm advertising my stories.

Now, enough of that. I now present you, Chapter Three of Freezing Bonds!

ENJOY, MY LOVELY READERS!

**REVIEWS PLEASE!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach; because if I did, Hitsugaya and Rukia would totally end up together. LOL.**

* * *

**CHAPTER THREE**

**Infiltrating your brother's colleague's property**

* * *

The entrance to the tunnel was a tad bit small.

Entering the gates was a piece of cake. They just shunpo-d by the guards and they didn't notice. Guards on the grounds were scattered everywhere. So if one of them hears anything, they would just think it's the others' doing. And two skilled shinigami were no match for them, after all.

The entrance to the tunnel was located at the eastern part of the division, just right below a cherry blossom tree.

Hitsugaya Toshiro wasn't expecting much, but when he saw the size of the hole…

"It's the size of a mouse hole, Kuchiki! How do you suppose I get in there?" He nearly screamed. Damn, he had temper issues, but Kuchiki here had plan issues.

The hole was about two feet wide and one foot in length.

"B-but sir, it's the right size for people like…"

"Say it and you'll regret being rebirth again…" He threatened. Kuchiki swallowed hard and wiped a drop of sweat from her brow. "S-sir, I meant the hole is just the right size for vertically challenged people like…"

He glared at her pointedly.

"Like me," She added.

"Much better." He nodded approvingly. "But, tell me Kuchiki, how did Matsumoto fit in this? And Isane too?" He asked. Matsumoto wasn't really in the category of "vertically challenged".

Kuchiki didn't answer. She looked around with piercing violet eyes.

He surveyed their surroundings too with calculating eyes. For a while, he stood there, pensive and silent. He observed that the guards were at least twenty feet apart. It would take them three minutes, more or less, to reach them if ever they noticed something. And by that time, they'd be gone.

Hitsugaya sighed. He should be napping. And yet, there he was…

_No use being angry, _he told himself. _No going back now._

Then, he looked down at Kuchiki. She was looking at him. He raised a brow expectantly.

"Sir?" Kuchiki said, "Are you expecting an explanation or— ?"

"I'm expecting you to enter, Kuchiki," he snarled. "Do you think it's better if I go on first? You're the one with the blue print and experience here."

Kuchiki nodded and entered the hole. He gave her twenty counts and then Hitsugaya plunged into the darkness after her.

The journey in the tunnel was bearable enough.

Despite the size of the hole, the passageway to the division headquarters was big enough, so they wouldn't have to crawl; but they had to walk in single file. The roof of the tunnel up to ten feet.

Hitsugaya and Rukia did not speak to each other (unless necessary); all the noise that could be heard then was their breathing and their footsteps. The tunnel was all dirt. The walls were made of loam soil, Hitsugaya guessed and the ground was the same. Pebbles and rocks littered the floor. Sometimes, the tunnel would branch out in twos and threes, but Kuchiki had the blue print; she knew the way.

She also explained that all the other tunnels lead somewhere else. He had asked her if there was a tunnel leading to the research room directly, but she shrugged and said, "Maybe,"

"Maybe?"

"That's too dangerous. And I doubt that the twelfth division captain will fail to notice if there was a hole in his research room,"

Hitsugaya asked skeptically, "And you're sure Nemu won't notice that there was a hole in her room?"

"Well," Kuchiki replied, "She knows there's a hole in her room; she just doesn't mind. Lieutenant Yachiru, being the president of the SWA, explained to Lieutenant Nemu that it is mandatory that a female shinigami should have a hole in their room." She said this as if it were the most obvious thing in the universe.

"And she fell for that?"

"Well, of course," Kuchiki said matter-of-factly. "Next to her father, Lieutenant Nemu is most loyal to Lieutenant Yachiru."

He nodded like he understood. But of course, he didn't. Why would someone have a hole in their room?

He asked, suddenly interested, "Kuchiki, do _you _have a hole in your room?"

"Hmm," Kuchiki thought for a moment before answering, "I was supposed to."

Ugh. That's Kuchiki for you. Vague as ever.

"What do you mean?"

"You see, Byakuya-niisama would explode if I ever damaged the manor; but Lieutenant Yachiru wouldn't budge. She wanted that hole and that tunnel. I tried everything… _everything_ to just let me have my room hole-less and the Kuchiki manor tunnel-less…" Kuchiki laughed a chime like sound he had never heard of before.

"So I had to do something that would both please them."

Hitsugaya asked, "What was that?"

"I let them dig a tunnel," Kuchiki said, "…to my brother's office, just under Renji's table."

"W-what?" Hitsugaya spluttered. He could almost imagine Byakuya finding a hole in his office, unsheathing his zanpaktuo, waiting for imbeciles to burst out of the hole and slicing them with his Senbonzakura.

And he could also imagine Matsumoto there, experiencing the wrath of Kuchiki Byakuya.

"Did you really— ?" Hitsugaya asked; not able to contain the laughter in his voice.

"Yes," Kuchiki answered. "You see, Renji wanted to help me, and he also said that he wanted some _thrill_ in their office, so I led SWA to their office, let them dig the hole while Renji distracted Byakuyya-niisama. Niisama found out and I swore he was going to banish us into eternity; which was bad, because we're kind of immortal."

Kuchiki chuckled, "So, yeah, Niisama was furious. I was lucky he didn't blame me. He was so mad— I think he forgot he had a sister. He unleashed his fury on Renji and on the other members of the SWA. And it seemed then that my luck was really good, because at that time, Yoruichi-san was in the area— visiting Niisama. She managed to calm him down and stuff,"

"What happened to the hole? Did Matsumoto and the others get mad at you? And did Byakuya realize you were the one who led them there?"

"If Niisama was mad at me, he didn't show it. Maybe he found things more interesting than getting mad at his little sister," Kuchiki continued thoughtfully.

"The hole and the tunnel were fixed. The others weren't mad, though. I thought they would be, then they'd kick me out of the SWA, but somehow, they loved me more for that. None of us has holes except Lieutenant Nemu. Right now, I think they're planning on how to dig a tunnel to Niisama's room. "

Kuchiki turned to him and smirked deviously, "Now, if Byakuya-niisama was _furious _when he found out there was a hole in his office, what more if it was in his room?"

Hitsugaya raised a brow skeptically, "You really have a habit of infuriating your brother, don't you?"

Kuchiki turned her head forward again and said, "You could say that, yes. But really, I just want him to have fun— or something close to that." Kuchiki laughed. "It's better getting angry than not feeling anything at all. Niisama— he had not moved on yet from…" Her voice trailed off.

The air was dry but in the tunnel he didn't feel heat. He felt cold and calm, like he always did.

Maybe it was because of Kuchiki— or maybe it was just him.

"Moved on from what?" he asked, but he never got any response.

Kuchiki continued waling forward; occasionally turning right and then left. Silence enveloped them like the fog in people's breath in winter.

He would have not minded the silence, but it was irritating— that his words still hung in the air… decorating the almost animate awkwardness.

They were walking for at least forty minutes now, and she had not yet to speak.

Hitsugaya considered repeating the question; but decided against it. Kuchiki had her sword slung over her shoulder; if she didn't want to talk— better not push her to.

For a while, they had no interaction… then he noticed that Kuchiki took small glances at him. He was looking at her shadow cast by her flashlight— he saw her head turn to him every once in a while.

Finally, he couldn't stand it, "Why do you keep looking at me, Kuchiki?"

Kuchiki turned to him, her eyes almost blank. She said, "To make sure you're still behind me,"

"What, do you think I'm gonna leave and abandon this mission?"

Kuchiki shrugged. "Maybe,"

"Maybe?" He raised a delicate eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Maybe you'll leave me," She said, "Or maybe you'll get lost,"

"Me? Getting lost?" Hitsugaya snorted. "Not likely,"

"If you say so, sir," She said.

He was about to say a smart thing like, "Oh yeah? So what?", but was cut off when Kuchiki stopped abruptly. And if it weren't for his awesome skills, he would've slammed into her.

"What is it, Kuchiki?" he said as he rubbed his nose.

"We're here. The entrance to Lieutenant Nemu's room." She replied, looking up.

On the roof of the tunnel, there was a circle as big as the one they entered. He was able to distinguish it from the tunnel roof because of a big, black X overlapping it.

"Then?" Hitsugaya snapped. "What are you waiting for? Aren't we going up?"

Kuchiki nodded and started climbing. She pushed on the circle, and it budged with a soft _pop_. Hitsugaya was expecting light to seep through, but with a small glance through hole, the inside of Nemu's room seemed darker than of the tunnel. Kuchiki brought herself up, and in seconds, she disappeared in the darkness.

In a matter of seconds, he was beside Kuchiki, squatting in the darkness. She placed the lid carefully on the hole again; it was disguised as a circular carpet.

Nemu's room looked normal enough once Hitsugaya's eye s adjusted to the darkness. There was a bed beside the hole, and beside the bed was a side table with a lamp.

He lit the lamp and warm light enveloped the place.

There was a study table by their right; the same kind that he had in his office. On it were neatly arranged stacks of paper and in a test tube rack were test tubes with multi-colored substances in them.

"Like father, like daughter," he murmured.

He heard shuffling from behind him and saw Kuchiki standing on the bed, searching on a cabinet above it.

"What are you doing?" Hitsugaya hissed. "If Kurotsuchi's daughter finds out that—"

"I'm checking if Lieutenant Nemu still has her sword here— ah!" Kuchiki said, "Here it is."

_I thought she was sure that Nemu always kept her sword there?_

She carefully closed the cabinet and leaped off the bed. Kuchiki fixed the pillows and the sheets and her zanpaktuo.

"Ready?" She asked.

He nodded. "Let's do this,"

Heitsugaya extinguished the light from the lamp and crept to the door. He listened for footsteps and sensed others' presences. "Nothing," he said. "There's no one patrolling the corridor— actually; there's no one in the whole floor." He looked at Kuchiki, "That's strange."

Kuchiki looked untroubled. "That's very strange, indeed. But I've heard Captain Ukitake say that Captain Kurotsuchi believes that whoever tries to infiltrate his division would be committing suicide," she explained.

"But he sends you and me to do just that?" Hitsugaya snorted, "What a fine Captain you have there."

"He wouldn't send us knowing we would fail," Kuchiki defended. "We'll be fine."

Hitsugaya shrugged and took a deep breath. "Well, then, let's get this over with."

He turned the door knob, and with Kuchiki, they plunged into the twelfth division.

The twelfth division was huge.

That was Hitsugaya's first impression. Well, it was. If he was alone and blue-print-less, he can do fine, but the division had so many twists and turns, he bet he would not be able to locate the swords in the short time Kurostuchi was gone. And besides, there were tons of security cameras. With the blue print, they managed to avoid every single one.

At their tenth right turn, Kuchiki hid the blue print again.

"Hey!" Hitsugaya protested quietly. "What'd you do that for?"

"We don't need this anymore," she replied. "I've been here with Ichigo before. Two left turns and we're there."

She looked at the tenth division captain. "Now, there are researchers there. About five of them. But they're not really the combat type. We can bring them down with stunning spells." She flicked her bangs out of her eyes, "But then there's Liuetenant Nemu."

"We can take her." Hitsugaya said as he smirked.

"Okay, if you say so." Rukia looked at him again, "Ready?"

"Yeah."

_It's now or never, _he thought.

"Okay," Kuchiki took a deep breath. "Let's get this over with."

* * *

The plan was simple. Get into the twelfth division and retrieve the stolen swords; easy, right?

Wrong.

After entering the research room, everything went erroneous. As in— incredibly _wrong_.

When they barged into the room, the researchers had no time to react because at once, they were struck each with a very strong stunning kido spell. They fell onto the ground lamely with a soft, _thud._

Rukia went to them and propped them on their seats again. She turned and saw the tenth division captain already searching for the zanpaktuos… and Nemu standing idly by, ignoring them.

"Lieutenant Nemu?" she called; a tinge of concern in her voice.

"She's frozen," Hitsugaya stated, "for now."

Rukia nodded. She marveled on the captain's ability. He was able to immobilize a lieutenant and she, Rukia, didn't even notice.

She smiled to herself. She was glad that it was the tenth division captain that was with her and not somebody else. He was professional and all business. That's good.

"Where is it?" he'd occasionally hiss as he continued looking for the swords.

And after about ten minutes of opening drawers and cabinets unceremoniously, she found something.

Not the swords; but a passageway.

After rummaging through countless shelves, Rukia managed to pull out a random book, and a section on the wall beside her began to disappear. Rukia examined it; it was a hole.

The hole on the wall was about six feet in height and a foot wide. Beyond it was just darkness. But it was a hollowed, she could tell.

"Captain Hitsugaya," she called out. "I think I found something!"

In seconds, the tenth division captain was beside her, looking at the hole with calculating eyes.

"Is it a room?" he asked.

"I think, sir, that it's a passageway." She looked at him, "Should we explore it?"

He thought for a moment, and then said, "Yeah, why not? The swords aren't here, anyway. I don't recall a secret passageway being authorized by the head captain; or of any organization, though."

"What about the tunnels Lieutenant Yachiru dug?"

"That was authorized by a head of an organization—namely the pink haired brat. The tunnels she made were useless, anyway. And besides, having a secret passageway to anything will mean that the one who made it is hiding something. And I feel an unwelcoming presence beyond it…" he trailed off.

Rukia gulped. "Well?"

"I say we go in," the captain said, "we've to nothing to lose."

_Nothing besides our lives, _she thought doubtfully.

The captain was about to go in when, "Wait," Rukia said. "What if Captain Kurotsuchi arrives and sees that the passageway opened?"

"I predict he'll come in, too," he replied. "He'll be angry; too, that someone dug a hole in his office."

"Are you meaning to say that Captain Kurotsuchi had nothing to do with this?"

"No," a voice behind them said nonchalantly. "I had no intelligence of a passageway in my research room."

Rukia stood frozen on her spot, not daring to turn around. Hitsugaya did, though.

"Kurotsuchi," he greeted.

"Ah, Captain Hitsugaya, hello." Rukia could almost feel the twelfth division captain sneer at her. "And what do we have here? Kuchiki Rukia, is that you?"

She turned around grudgingly and bowed stiffly. "Good afternoon, sir."

"Good afternoon, indeed," Rukia saw him come closer from the little visual her eyes that were obstructed by her lashes gave her.

"Raise your head," he commanded cooly.

Rukia snapped her head up, and she felt her nape break. _Ugh._

"Kuchiki Rukia, don't you think your brother would be disappointed in you?" he asked with fake enthusiasm. "You are a noble, after all. And nobles don't go snooping around in the property of their brother's… ah, colleague."

Rukia ground her teeth together. She hated it when people said that she disappoints her brother. "Excuse me, but the twelfth division is not your property, _sir_. When you lead a group of people, it doesn't mean they are your property."

"Clever, aren't you?" The twelfth division sneered at her. He stepped closer, so that if he brought down his head, they were face to face. He looked down at her with utter disdain, "If your brother wasn't that damned Kuchiki Byakuya, I'd blast you to dust right now."

Rukia felt a smirk tug at her lips, but she forced it down; her next words would have the same effect, anyway. "And don't forget, _sir, _that Shion Yoruichi, Urahara Kisuke and Kurosaki Ichigo are my friends, too… oh, and so is the last Quincy."

The captain raised his hand, probably to slap her or something— when Hitsugaya stepped in between them; forcing Rukia to back up into the passageway.

The tenth division captain was right; there _was_ an unwelcoming presence in there. It made the hair on her nape stand up and her skin tingle the moment she stepped into it. She took a step forward to escape the great spiritual pressure in the passage way.

"Stop it, Kurotsuchi. We were here on orders," Hitsugaya explained.

"Orders? And I assume it was Ukitake?" Kurotsuchi scoffed. "That sickly bastard. I told him I didn't steal those swords of his weak underlings. Hell, I can make them give their zanpaktuos to me willingly! But—"

He stopped in midsentence and eyed the passageway. "I _am _thankful that you found that passageway. It would seem that my subordinates were playing behind my back." He laughed humorlessly. "So I suppose I have no right to kill you."

_You have no right to kill anyone, _Rukia snapped in her head.

"Though you did damage to my research room," he said, pertaining the knocked out researchers and the frozen Nemu, "Did you know that you put a very big research on hold?"

"Did we?" The tenth division asked mockingly. "We didn't realize that, sorry."

"Oh, no worries!" Kurotsuchi dismissed the bogus remorse, "But I need you to do something else."

The captain's eyes glinted maliciously.

"What's that?" Hitsugaya asked suspiciously.

"Since you have frozen my worthless lieutenant here," he gestured to the still Nemu, "it is polite that you replace her."

"Replace?" Rukia's voice was small. "Why would you need us? Would you like us as bait?"

"Well, you were going to enter the passageway, yes? Why not we do it together? By inspecting the place where the tunnel leads to, I can find out who had the guts to make it… and you… maybe you can find what you're looking for—and if not, I can help you."

It wasn't a reliable agreement; Rukia was just about to protest when…

"Fine," Hitsugaya said tersely, pinching the bridge of his nose, "anything to get this over quickly."

"Ah," Kurotsuchi said, "impatient as ever, aren't you, Captain Hitsugaya?"

The tenth division captain ignored him and turned to Rukia. "Well? Are you going in or not?"

She swallowed thickly and nodded. "Oh, sorry."

She braced herself and entered first, and at that single moment in the tunnel again, Rukia's eyes rolled backward into her head and she felt like she was on fire. She had no idea how a single step into something unknown would make her wish that she had disintegrated instead.

* * *

**Heroine versus heroin?**


	5. What happens after the loss

**A/N:**

*****HELLO! I updated as soon as I can for ya, my lovely readers!

But before that, I want to give a big thank you to:

**Denidene**, **Yuzy**, **Echo Uchiha** and **CresentSnow** for reviewing!

**ChocoLuvr101**, **Sparrow123**, **CrescentSnow**, **MindlessAbandon** for adding this story to their favorites/ story alerts!

**I LOVE YOU, MY READERS. **And please, the new readers and the old ones— please review the story because it's what keeps me from abandoning this.

* * *

**CHAPTER FOUR**

**What happened after the loss of consciousness**

Hitsugaya Toshiro just found out that he really hated tunnels; especially those with very powerful spiritual pressure flowing through them— and he realized that even _before _he went in and found out what's in the end of the damned thing.

He never figured that the reiatsu in the tunnel would be _that_ powerful as to make a very healthy shinigami faint, though.

Kuchiki fell to the ground, her eyes rolled back into her head. Hitsugaya had just enough time to catch her before she broke her skull on the marble-tiled floor. The petite shinigami was burning up and was, obviously, unconscious. Her lower body was still inside of the tunnel, and Hitsugaya figured that that was the cause of his companion's sudden loss of consciousness.

He supported her knees with his free arm and just for a second, when his arm was inside the tunnel; his skin tingled and started to heat up. His heart teleported to his throat and quickly did he snatched Kuchiki far from the tunnel and jumped back two feet.

He took her sword off her shoulder and laid it beside him.

He shook her lightly and just then did he notice her face. It was ghostly pale and it really looked like she wasn't breathing— dead— but she _was_ breathing; her chest heaving minimal air. Yet when he tried to hold her hand up and let go of it, it would only fall limply back down.

Hitsugaya cradled her head in his arms, her hair entangling themselves with his fingers and said urgently, "Kuchiki?"

She didn't respond. He frowned.

"Kuchiki, don't die on me or else your brother and Kurosaki would want to have my head as a decoration in your manor! Kuchiki! Hey! Wake up!"

The tenth division captain's face was beaded with cold sweat and his mouth felt dry. He really hated it when people around him go around and getting themselves into trouble. Now what was he supposed to do?

He knew all too well not to panic in a situation like this. His friends had been and will always be in danger because of what they are.

"_You and your friends will be in trouble_… _And when the times come that you do, don't panic. When you panic, you fail…_" were the first words their teacher in the academy spoke to them; pertaining to the dangers of being a shinigami.

He closed his eyes and felt for something... _anything. _Kuchiki's reiatsu was faint and was fluctuating— but something was off. It was her reiatsu, but at the same time it wasn't… The spiritual pressure was like a heart beating— but with every beat, it dropped gradually and it was only a matter of time before…

"Oi! Kurotsuchi! Do something!" He said to the twelfth division captain, who was staring intently at the entrance of the tunnel.

"Intresting," he murmured dismissively, "the little Kuchiki had the misfortune of entering first and experiencing the colossal spiritual pressure in this tunnel."

HItsugaya's eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to argue but closed it as Kurotsuchi was going to say something else— but if he didn't hurry the hell up…

"If my calculations are correct, the tunnel extends for thirty feet forwards, then five feet downwards. And in that thirty-five feet of soil is spiritual pressure five times greater than of a captain's," he mused, "the sudden impact of that great amount of spiritual pressure— must I say— knocked Kuchiki off her feet."

Hitsugaya gnashed his teeth together, "So are you gonna help or what? I'm pretty sure you don't want Byakuya hunting you."

"Ah, yes," Kurotsuchi looked at him and then to Kuchiki with mild interest, "I wouldn't want that."

He examined Kuchiki again and said, "It seems that the reiatsu's impact made _her _spiritual pressure recede. That's a strange occurrence," Kurotsuchi said, his voice troubled. Though Hitsugaya could not see the man's eyebrow (or if he _had_ eyebrows) he was pretty sure they were beyond his hairline. He was confused as he is. Since when did reiatsu recede?

He walked to his nearest computer, ruthlessly pushed the frozen occupant aside (making him fall to the floor) and gabbled on about how his experiments would be postponed if he couldn't save Kuchiki as he typed on his keyboard. On the humungous screen were measurements and graphs that reminded Hitsugaya of his days in the academy.

After a few more seconds of literally blindingly tapping the keys, the twelfth division captain moved to the center of the room, where a cylindrical podium materialized from underneath. It swiveled upward and on it was a small vial with glowing burgundy liquid in it. Kurotsuchi picked it up carefully, his face smug. The vial gave a menacing aura; like a storm brewing. Its glow cast a faint light in the room.

"You seem to be proud to produce something so… ominous," Hitsugaya deadpanned.

He approached the two slowly and explained, "Oh, it is ominous in its own way. This is a potion that will replenish one's reiatsu— or drain it," he smiled crookedly, "whichever way."

"What?" Hitsugaya growled, "What do you mean? If her reiatsu's drained, how will she _ever_ regain consciousness?"

The twelfth division captain took the lid off the vial and the air in the research room was filled with the sweet scent of grapes.

Kurotsuchi shook his head disapprovingly, "My, my, by that statement are you accusing me of trying to kill her? Gosh, I feel so trusted right now." He then knelt beside them and he stretched his hand towards Kuchiki's face. Seeing the glare that was trying to pierce his hand, he frowned reproachfully. "Captain Hitsugaya, I will not do harm to the Kuchiki princess— even _I_ do not dare to cross her relatives. This potion will drain her reiatsu, yes, but another swig from the vial, her reiatsu's back— better than ever."

"Are you sure?" Hitsugaya asked accusingly, "If something happens to her— I'll tell Byakuya."

The twelfth division captain looked at him critically for a moment and decided, "Do what you want," His bony hand grasped the fallen Kuchiki's face, opened her mouth and tilted the vial carefully— just right so that only a drop of the potion made its way to her mouth.

Hitsugaya watched as Kurotsuchi dropped some of the potion again and the color in Kuchiki's face slowly came back. The twelfth division captain stood up and placed the vial on the podium again. It disappeared in a matter of seconds underground.

He stood over them; waiting for his potion to take effect.

Relief washed over the tenth division captain like a torrential tempest the moment he saw Kuchiki's eyes flutter open and her reiatsu flow through her again. A pair of mauve orbs took in the scene before them. Her eyes were confused and dazed— as if she just got out of a trance. Hitsugaya leaned down on her, his face merely inches from her. He asked, "Are you alright?"

She looked at him questioningly before raising her head and sitting up. Hitsugaya had to jerk his head back quickly or their heads would've collided.

Kuchiki took in her surroundings with clouded eyes and her hand to her head.

He repeated his question. "Do you feel anything weird or..?"

"I'm fine, sir, thank you for asking," she replied and managed a weak smile for him.

"And thanks to me, of course!" Kurotsuchi said his arms crossed proudly across his chest. "I was the one who saved you, you ungrateful girl!"

Kuchiki turned her head to Hitsugaya, her eyes held a certain inquiry. He nodded.

Then she turned to the twelfth division captain and bowed her head, "Thank you, Captain Kurotsuchi, for saving me. I am really very grateful." Kuchiki's voice confirmed that her words were true, but her eyes held something else. Was it regret? Or was it embarrassment? Usually Hitsugaya was good at reading people— but when it came to Kuchiki Rukia— no, when it came to the Kuchiki siblings, he might as well be a child looking at an abstract painting.

"Sir," she said to him, "the tunnel—"

"Yes, I know," he said, "It knocked you out with you just having one step in it." He turned to Kuchiki as he stood up. He held out a hand to his companion and she took it willingly. Her hand was warm again, thank God.

Hitsugaya obliged himself, too, on telling her specific details about the tunnel.

After his explanation he said, "What are we going to do? It's as if the tunnel doesn't want us inside it."

"Hm, it seems so," Kurotsuchi muttered pensively. "Ah, Kuchiki," the tone on the twelfth division captain's voice was like he just seen Kuchiki there. "How did you feel when you stepped inside?"

Kuchiki's eyes wandered to the entrance of the tunnel. "Well," she said— her voice almost lifeless and muted… her purple eyes clouded and dreary— as if she was remembering something from really long ago. Then her voice turned serious and all business, "the tunnel… when I stepped in it… my skin stung and my limbs burned like it was being grilled and my eyes felt like it was being pushed with a thousand toothpicks… my reiatsu was flushed out of my system. My sword— no— Sode no Shirayuki shared some of her reiatsu to keep me alive— but…"

_So it was her sword's reiatsu back then._

Kuchiki stooped down to fetch her sword. She caressed it, what, gratefully? — and slung it over her shoulder again.

"But what?" Kurotsuchi insisted.

"There's something else in there, sir. I didn't see it, but I know… I felt its anger once I stepped in the tunnel. I think we should report this to the head captain," Kuchiki advised intelligently.

Kurotsuchi considered this for a moment, "Maybe, but—" he said after he paused, "— even if the head captain knew of this there is no guarantee we can solve it. The tunnel will distinguish our reiastu when we step inside it… and I don't think I have enough potions for that."

"What do we do, then?"

Hitsugaya contemplated for a bit, his mind reeling with great possibilities. This situation was very strange… that humungous reiatsu shouldn't be there… it looked like Kurotsuchi was telling the truth when he said he's got nothing to do with it… but who has? — only someone as skilled as a captain would be able to hide reiatsu this well… but even a captain could not conceal spiritual pressure this colossal— more or less with a wall.

Hitsugaya breathed out and said evenly, "We should report this. This— this is incredibly weird, don't you think? Why would such a great amount of reiatsu habituate in your research room when you don't know anything about it? And how did a simple portion of a wall hide it from us? Naturally, this amount of reiatsu would have pulsed through Soul Society like wildfire. And if it does make people's reiatsu just suddenly fade, then if this spreads, all of us are as good as dead— again."

Kuchiki looked at him and her eyes said that she understood. "What, sir, do you think is the best thing to do? Clearly, the mission given to us by Captain Ukitake can wait… should we report now or— "

"Wait, Kuchiki," Hitsugaya raised a hand, "what if this reiatsu infested tunnel has something to do with the stolen zanpaktuos?" Kuchiki's eyebrows furrowed and her lips were pressed in a thin line. Hitsugaya let her think for a while. When she wasn't responding, he said, "You said your skin stung and your eyes, too… and you also told us that your limbs felt like it was on _fire_…" he trailed off when he saw Kuchiki's eyes widen in realization.

"Of course! Whoever stole the missing fire-type swords might be the same one who made this hole. The anger I felt must've been the spirits of the zanpaktuos!" she exclaimed. In that moment of her triumph did Kuchiki Rukia's eyes flash emotions he had never seen before in her; happiness and pride… then as quickly as it came, it went. Her eyes returned to serious and pensive mode. "But if the reiatsu in the tunnel _does _belong to the stolen swords… there are ten swords, right? Is it safe to assume that two zanpaktuo spirits' spiritual pressure together is equal to that of a captain's?"

"What are you implying, Kuchiki? That our swords our more competent than us?" Kurotsuchi scoffed and his eyes narrowed. "_If _they _were_ stronger than us— which I am not saying that they are— they wouldn't be our swords; we'd be theirs!"

"Sir, we wouldn't need weapons if we were strong already," Kuchiki insisted.

Kurotsushi's reiatsu spiked up. He said with such disdain Hitsugaya admitted to himself that it scared him a bit, "Well, Kuchiki," Kurotsuchi sneered, "_I _don't need a weapon to kill you. And I really want to do so right now."

Kuchiki— he thought she'd back down. But she stood there, the fire of a determination still blazing in her purple eyes. He had to acknowledge that about her; the girl's a big, walking bundle of courage. He almost smirked at her second time in standing to what she believed in— to Kurotsuchi!

"Perhaps Kuchiki is right here, Kurotsuchi. But maybe you're right, too," he said.

Kuchiki looked at him hopefully, while the twelfth division captain said indignantly, "I know I'm right!"

Hitsugaya ignored him and approached the massive screen of the computer Kurotsuchi just typed on. He wondered aloud, "Do you think this computer can show us how exactly reiatsu in people react when in the tunnel?" He turned to Kurotsuchi— the said captain nodded and said, "Why, of course! But who could be our lab rat?" as he said this his eyes flickered to Kuchiki briefly, as if ordering her via mental telepathy to volunteer.

The child prodigy rolled his eyes, "And _no_, Kuchiki isn't going into the tunnel again. Perhaps a gigai will do?"

Kurotsuchi looked at him expectantly and so did Kuchiki. He felt like face-palming himself. "We can use a gigai; insert some reiatsu in it and let it enter the tunnel. We can monitor the changes in reiatsu— if it really does recede when it comes in contact with the spiritual pressure in the tunnel."

"That can work if I make special adjustments on the gigai," Kurotsuchi conceded. For the first time since going in there, the twelfth division captain acknowledged her daughter.

"Hey, you!" he said as he poked Nemu with a reiatsu filled fingertip in the head rather hard. "Wake up and prepare me a gigai at once!" Nemu moved again, blinked and bowed deeply. "Yes, Mayuri-sama." With that, she left the research room.

Hitsugaya kind of felt sorry for her. Poor girl being abused by her own father.

He turned to Kuchiki, "Kuchiki, I want you to report at once to the captains. Kurotsuchi and I will stand by here and watch the tunnel. We will investigate further, you tell them, we'll take a look at the wall that covered it and we'll start the gigai test as soon as Nemu comes back." Kuchiki listened intently to every word he said; a thing he never got accustomed to people outside of his division doing— save for Matsumoto; the woman had no sense of respect sometimes!

She nodded in understanding, "Sir, I ask permission to inform Urahara-san and the others in the real world. They can be of big help."

"You will do no such thing!" Kurotsuchi bellowed, his eyes flashing incredulously, "This is my case and no Urahara Kisuke and damned living people will intervene!"

"Shut it, Kurotsuchi," Hitsugaya snapped, "Urahara Kisuke is an essential liability. And so are our allies," he said exasperatingly, "the Quincy can control spirit particles, can he not? That ability itself can help us greatly. Kurosaki Ichigo is quite reliable too, with the great amount of reiatsu he possesses. And Inoue Orihime could heal like no other, am I correct?"

The twelfth division captain nodded grimly. "Fine," he spat tersely, "as long as they don't dirty my floors." Kurotsuchi was still grumbling when he typed furiously away in his computer's keyboard.

Hitsugaya sighed, irritated. He turned to Kuchiki again and said, "Kuchiki, once again, I order you to report to the captains— tell them everything that went on here and tell them that we would be needing assistance… uh, save for the part that we infiltrated the twelfth division barracks without permission."

"And what if they ask?"

"I'm sure Ukitake would be happy to supply the answer to their queries." He half-smirked, "After that and you've been dismissed, feel free to go to the Living World and let them in on the issue here."

Kuchiki nodded and made way for the door. She was already outside but returned to stand in front of him. He raised a delicate eyebrow in silent question when she said quietly, so that only he could hear, "Thank you, Captain— for the living people thing… and sorry for collaps—"

"It's fine," he said dismissively, turning his back on her. "Go, Kuchiki."

He walked to the computer and hovered by Kurotsuchi… he felt Kuchiki bow behind him. He called over his shoulder, "And be careful."

He heard her giggle softly before she disappeared.

* * *

Kuchiki Byakuya walked briskly to the captain's headquarters, his loyal lieutenant struggling to keep up with his pace. He had asked him to come though only captains were allowed to for the sole reason that the meeting had something to do about his sister; and he needed someone who could rapidly get out of the room and search for his sister if ever she was in trouble. Knowing Renji, he would not even wait for his captain's order— if it came down to Rukia being in trouble he'd disobey anyone without as much a hesitation. He understood this characteristic his lieutenant had for he would do the same— Rukia was his pride and everything he had expected of his late wife's sister; strong-willed, witty and at the same time incredibly kind and down to earth— no wonder that Hanatarou kid from the fourth division was head over heels in love with his sister.

The damned hell butterfly had no specific information in it as it fluttered in their office. In the report the insect brought only said: "Captains, this is your head captain, I expect you to be on your way to the headquarters now. _All captains._ This is a state of emergency. Be here within the half hour. I and Kuchiki Rukia will be expecting you."

Once they arrived at their destination, quizzical looks were thrown at them. No doubt the other captains were wondering why Kuchiki Byakuya had his lieutenant scrambling after him. He ignored them completely as he always had and made his way to his spot, Renji walking stiffly behind him. The head captain didn't seem to mind, though. There were only a few captains there, Zaraki, Unohana, Kyouraku, and surprisingly, Ukitake. The others have yet to arrive. When he Rukia was standing beside her captain he was washed with overwhelming relief— and so was his lieutenant, evident in his silent sigh of relief behind his captain.

Rukia and Ukitake— they were discussing something.

Rukia hadn't acknowledged them yet. He wanted to walk to her sister and ask her point blank what kind of trouble she had gotten herself into this time but stopped himself. With the look on their faces it was clear that they need not to be disturbed. Ukitake had his head down and he shook it from time to time as Rukia talked. She was flinging her hands around nervously and her eyes wild. Maybe he _should _go there and—

"Captains," the head captain called, "please settle down and let us listen to what Kuchiki Rukia has to say."

The captains walked to their respective places. Funny, Byakuya thought, they were short on two captains— Kurotsuchi and that brat, Hitsugaya. Not that he was looking for them; it was just weird that they weren't there. They are usually the ones present first in meetings, after all.

Everyone fell silent and an eerie, hushed awkwardness enveloped the room.

Rukia made her way to the center of the room, meters from the head captain. She looked back at Commander-Captain Yamamoto and he gave her an encouraging nod. She gulped and cleared her voice. She stood straight—graceful, even— exactly how the Kuchiki house had taught her. He felt the awe-inspiring sense of pride well up in his chest.

"I, Kuchiki Rukia of the thirteenth division report to you in behalf of Captain Hitsugaya of the tenth division and…" she added hesitantly, "… and Captain Kurotsuchi of the twelfth division."

_Hitsugaya and Kurotsuchi?_

Byakuya looked at Ukitake from the corner of his eye. He looked not the least confused as the others, though he did look apprehensive, sweating and flexing his hands.

"Rukia-chan with Captain Hitsugaya and Kurotsuchi? That's a weird combination. And that's saying something because Byakuya's little sister has had a very weird history when it comes to the people she associates," Kyouraku mused, "tell me, Rukia-chan, Kurotsuchi aside, what were you doing with Shiro-chan?" he asked innocently, though his voice had _that _tone in it.

Renji gasped audibly behind him and his sister threw him a look of warning.

Rukia's cheeks flushed and she coughed through her fist uncomfortably, "We were on a mission," she said dismissively.

"A mission, huh?" Only the holy God knows what Kyouraku had in mind.

"Yes, a mission assigned to me by my Captain," she continued.

In Rukia's story it appears that Ukitake had thought of Kurotsuchi as the burglar who stole his subordinates' zanpaktuos and had requested for his sister to investigate the twelfth division captain with the company of Hitsugaya. Once they had infiltrated the twelfth division barracks effectively and had reached the research room, they had the misfortune of finding a secret passageway that had a great amount of reiatsu in it instead of the swords they were sent to find.

"Why am I not informed of this mission, Ukitake?" Byakuya asked coldly, looking at the thirteenth division captain expectantly. He ignored the looks everyone gave him as usual; including that of the head captain.

"I did not thought you would be interested, Captain Kuchiki. And besides, Rukia is my subordinate and not yours, that means it does not concern you what missions I give her," replied the sickly captain as respectfully as he can.

Rukia watched wide-eyed at the exchange helplessly.

"And she is my sister, not yours," Byakuya said nonchalantly,

"Now, now, Captain Kuchiki—" Kyouraku stepped forward and Byakuya ignored him easily.

"I expect that infiltrating a division without permission is my concern since she could be harmed," he said it before he could filter the words.

The thirteenth division captain had his eyes downcast and his fists clenched, "I-I'm sorry, I—"

"Enough," the head captain bellowed, "We will discuss the infiltration later and you can resolve these issues of yours later. Kuchiki? If you will?" Kyouraku stepped back and Captain Commander gestured for Rukia to continue.

His sister swallowed thickly and then continued.

Rukia was the one who entered first and had the adversity to faint because of the sudden onslaught of the strange, fervent spiritual pressure. She described what exactly had she felt as she took a measly single step in the tunnel that extended for thirty five feet. Rukia explained that her reiatsu felt like it had suddenly left her body posthaste. She said she would have died if it weren't for Sode no Shirayuki, who shared some of her reiatsu to keep her alive and that Kurotsuchi saved her with his replenishing potion.

There was a sudden outburst of opinions.

"Why did we not felt this reiatsu before?"

"That's the odd thing, Captain Unohana, it seems that you can only feel it if you were to be a meter's distance from the entrance to the tunnel. The moment I left the room, the humungous reiatsu had gone from my senses."

"Are you sure Kurotsuchi had nothing to do with this?" Zaraki asked.

"Yes, sir. He was furious when he found out there was a hole in his research room."

"And did you stop for a second to think if that was an act? Didn't you think it was pretty convenient that he had a reiatsu-replenishing potion?" Soi-fon was grilling his sister.

"Captain Soi-fon, Captain Hitsugaya explained that a shinigami at the level of a captain could have hidden reiatsu that well— as to the point that no one can sense it… but he also said that the ability of a captain to hide such a colossal amount of spiritual pressure is non-existent. As I said, the reiatsu in the tunnel was five times as that of a captain… no one we know has the efficient skill to keep that behind a wall with the thickness of an inch."

Soi-fon thought for a moment before asking, "And you say you think that the stolen swords from your division have something to do with this?"

"Yes, we have considered that."

"And that two spirits of our swords would have an amount of spiritual pressure equal to a captains'?"

"We have come to that assumption, yes. But we have no solid proof. At this moment Captain Hitsugaya and Captain Kurotsuchi are conducting an experiment now on how does the reiatsu of a shinigami react with the reiastu inside the tunnel— hoping we can solve the problem of almost dying in the tunnel s we can inspect the inside."

"And how do they plan to do that?" The head captain asked.

"By using a gigai, sir."

"A gigai?" Unohana asked, "How will that work?"

"Captain Hitsugaya theorized that if we insert a certain amount of reiatsu in a special kind of gigai it would be able to take on the role of the lab rat."

Soi-fon snorted, "And what does the brat know about that?"

In Rukia's eyes flashed something like anger and her jaw clenched… her mauve orbs widened as she realized her actions. She shook her head.

"Captain Soi-fon, as everyone knows, Captain Hitsugaya is a child prodigy. He would know something about this and even if he just guessed this solution I would gladly label him as a good guesser because even Captain Kurotsuchi agreed that it will work and I do, too."

Bayakuya didn't know where all this respect Rukia was showing for the brat came from— but still, he was impressed. His little sister rarely spoke to those higher than her like that… well, she did when she really believes that her opinion was right but to defend someone who she barely knew— it was strange.

"Anything else?" head captain Yamamoto asked.

"Yes," Rukia turned to the Captain Commander, "Captain Hitsugaya has ordered me to ask some sort of aid from our allies in the Living World. Oh, and also, Captain Hitsugaya and Captain Kurotsuchi will need assistance there."

"Ah, yes. Go ahead after this meeting to the Living World and report to Urahara Kisuke and your friends there. As for assistance, I will send Captain Zaraki and Captain Unohana there."

Zaraki grunted proudly and Unohana nodded.

"Anything any of you want to add?" The Captain Commander's voice rang throughout the room.

"No, sir," was the chorus reply of everyone.

"Alright. The assigned captains, please make your way to the twelfth division barracks and aid your colleagues." The head captain pounded his staff once and then said, "Captains, you are dismiss—"

"Uh, sir?" Byakuya's lieutenant, Abarai Renji said, hesitantly raising his hand.

"Yes, Leiutenant Abarai?" Captain Commander acknowledged him patiently.

"M-may I accompany Kuchiki Rukia to the real world?" Renji stuttered. Rukia raised a delicate brow at her friend but he ignored her.

"And why would you want to do that?" Was it Byakuya or was the head captain sounded rather amused?

"I, uh, you see—" Byakuya was sure his lieutenant's face was as red as his hair, "—the mission would be faster accomplished if two people were to do it and—"

"Are you only going to see your friends that you missed or are you going with Kuchiki because you're scared she'll get into some sort of trouble?" the head captain scrutinized Renji, Byakuya knew. "And tell me the truth, Abarai… or I might just not let you get your way."

He heard his lieutenant shift his weight between his two feet. Everyone was looking at him with mild interest besides Rukia who was looking at her friend like she was expecting him to take his words back.

Finally Renji spoke, "I-I suppose both."

Rukia, Byakuya supposed, momentarily forgot her lessons in etiquette because her mouth fell open and her eyes were riotous— like that moment when Kurosaki Ichigo had appeared the day she was to be executed and had tried to save her… it was as if she didn't believe that he was there for her— like she didn't believe that someone actually cared about her. And when he realized that he felt betrayed. _He_ cared about her… didn't she know that?

"Very well, Lieutenant Abarai," said the head captain, "go on ahead to the Living World with Kuchiki Rukia. I expect you to be back in two hours. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir," Renji said obligingly.

"Yes, sir," Rukia said grudgingly, she was glaring holes on Renji's face.

"Oh, but not before we make sure that Kuchiki Rukia-san is really okay after what happened at the tunnel. I advise you to go to the fourth division, Rukia-san, and have Isane look at you." Unohana said gently.

Rukia turned abruptly at the fourth division captain and said, "B-but this should be done—"

"Rukia," Byakuya said stoically, though his tone cut his sister off, "go to the fourth division and have yourself checked. If you go now you could just make it in time for your two-hour curfew."

With that said, and not even waiting for his sister's answer, Byakuya hurriedly though calmly walked out of the captains' headquarters.

* * *

Kuchiki Rukia was okay with being told what to do— especially when it was her nii-sama who ordered it. But what she hated was when she was ordered something; _other_ people think she couldn't do it— other people namely one Abarai Renji.

"What were thinking, you baboon?" she hissed through gritted teeth as she and Renji flash stepped to the fourth division.

"What do you mean?" asked Renji innocently.

"What do you mean 'what do you mean?'?" Rukia was fuming. Did her friend really thought of her as reckless enough to get herself into trouble every time she had a mission by herself?

"I don't understand this sudden anger you acquired," Renji said, effectively evading Rukia's first question."

"What?" Rukia gripped her friend's shoulder and turned him to her. "Tell me why you're coming."

"I think I already made myself clear. I'm coming with you to make sure you're not going to give your powers gain to some random person again," he replied firmly.

Renji's words hit her like a ton of bricks. "Are you saying that you don't trust me?" her voice was soft and fragile.

Her friend's eyes widened and he held his hands up in front of him in defense, "No, Rukia, no. Don't think like that I— " he heaved a deep breath, grasped Rukia's shoulders and leveled his face to hers. She turned away but did not shake him off.

"Rukia, look at me," he said almost pleadingly.

She obliged.

"When I said that I meant— I just meant that I want you to be safe. Remember your first solo mission? You became a host for something so powerful and people tried to kill you. I don't want that ever happening again." Renji's voice was soft and soothing.

His words always had a great impact on her, she must admit. She locked eyes with him and said tenderly, "It's not gonna happen again, Renji, I—"

_BANG!_

Before she could finish her sentence, Rukia was cut off by a large explosion that sounded suspiciously from the twelfth division. The blast sounded like the world's biggest sledge hammer pounding on the world's biggest anvil. It made her ears pop and then ring. She didn't sense the reiatsu of the tunnel or any other sinister spiritual particles. But she did hear a very familiar rough voice screaming bloody hell.

Rukia looked at the person in front of her and she knew that they were thinking the same thing.

"I think—" Renji said, letting go of her shoulders and cupping his hand over his eyes to squint at the twelfth division barracks. "— that we're going to have to postpone your check-up. Something's going on at the twelfth division."

* * *

**Heroine versus Heroin?**


End file.
